Part 1

Rescue From Paradise, for us during our initial playthrough, was a mandatory quest. But, if you manage to breach Lamplight Caverns and get past the child mayor of the settlement, you won't have to do this quest, which turns it from being mandatory into optional. So, you may encounter this differently depending on how your own game goes, but either way, we're going to cover it for you. Rescue From Paradise revolves around rescuing some of the young members of the Lamplight settlement (thereby mandatory for some gamers to continue the quest). To get there, you're going to likely have to teleport to a place already on your map -- we went to the abandoned town of Minefield, which is far due north of the Super Duper Mart. You may need to find another place in which to spring off from, but that's where we did so. Paradise Falls is due north of Vault 106, Arefu, and Seneca Station, so any of those places would work as well.

Our journey brought us across several beastly enemies. We fought some Radscorpions and creatures of that nature, but we also dealt with a plethora of Super Mutants and Super Mutant Brutes en route. Your experience might vary depending on where you're springing off from, but if you're coming from Minefield and heading westward towards Paradise Falls, then chances are you're going to run into Super Mutants like we did. Keep your guns at the ready, remembering that Super Mutants seem extremely susceptible to laser weapons (our Plasma Rifle was housing them as if they were barely there in the first place).

You'll know you're approaching Paradise Falls when you begin encountering some shanties and other barely-standing buildings. Of course, a similar scene can be found all over the Capital Wasteland, so more specifically, you're going to want to keep your eyes peeled for a megalith in the distance -- a humongous humanoid statue that indeed resembles Bob's Big Boy. This obvious take on the Big Boy will surely direct you to Paradise Falls, which is built up adjacent to the long-abandoned fast food restaurant it represented.

Notice

It's important for you, the reader, to know that there are several ways you can get through this area. Because the residence of Paradise Falls are slave traders (or slavers, for short), they are bad guys. So it's actually a good thing in terms of your karma to kill every living resident of Paradise Falls. This is how we played this. But keep in mind that if you're playing as a bad guy or in search of bad karma, you have to treat the slavers as friends and make a deal with them to get your friends freed. There's several ways to do this, from bribing them to forcing them to accept you. We don't cover that here, however.

The entrance to Paradise Falls proper is actually down a garbage and scrap metal-ridden path near the side of what was once a fast food restaurant. It's guarded by several guards, and when you first approach them, the game will automatically take over and put you into a conversation with the lead guard. You can either talk to him from here, threaten him, try to win him over (as mentioned above), or opt out of the conversation completely. You must to the latter in order to get good karma here, opening up fire on him and his nearby cohorts thereafter. Try to get as close to the initial guy you kill before opening fire; this way, your hit rate will be as high as you can get it. Keep in mind that as soon as you open fire, however, things will get a little rough.

To persevere, you have to get through the initial guards of Paradise Falls. Be sure to pick their bodies clean of all of their goods, from weapons to armor to ammunition. They all should have pretty good stuff on them. Be absolutely sure that you grab the Paradise Falls Box Key from one of their bodies before going through the door into Paradise Falls proper. That key is what will allow you to open the cells where the children from Lamplight are being held at the back of the compound, but first you have to get through about a dozen angry slavers, some better-armed than others, but all pretty upset that you're killing their friends. Oh, and if you're especially lucky, expect to find a Mesmetron on one of these early slavers.

Part 2

The key to surviving such a bloody melee is simple -- patience. If you're patient, keeping a well-defended and fortified position while concentrating on killing a single slaver at a time, you should have little issue surviving the fray. In Paradise Falls proper, keep clicking the VATS button to identify new threats around you at all times, and try to pick as many off as possible from the well-fortified area in front of the initial door before pushing further into the compound. Keep an eye on your flanks and try not to get too inundated with enemies. If two or more guys are giving you a hard time at once, a grenade or mine (or missile launcher!) will help your cause greatly. Only when it appears that all enemies in the area are killed should you then take the time to pick their bodies clean of their myriad valuables.

So, the coast is clear, but it's not time to free the prisoners yet, because there are still stragglers about. The first building you'll want to enter is on your left after entering the main area of Paradise Falls. It's the weapon shop of the slavers, and it's called Lock and Load. Within, you're likely to find two well-armed, hostile slavers. Take them both out as quickly as you can and then pick their bodies clean (grab the Lock and Load Supply Key from one of their bodies). All of the weapons lying around on the counter, in lockers, and boxes are yours for the taking. Expect to find a lot of stuff here (you may need to head back to Megaton or Rivet City and unload some of it before proceeding). Amongst the more valuable things are three Assault Rifles, a Silenced 10mm Pistol, a Sawed-Off Shotgun and two Stimpaks, but you'll find much more than that in total. You can explore the back room and basement, but other than a bed to sleep in, you'll find little else of interest.

Leave the arms shop and run straight across to the door ahead (which would be on your right if you were just entering the area). This is the slavers' barracks, and should be guarded by two well-armed women who will attack you as soon as you enter. Take them both out as quickly as you can, combing their bodies for goods. Then, concentrate on searching around for anything you might want to take with you. Regrettably, there's little of any substantial value here, but you can find Boxes of Detergent and Milk Bottles aplenty. The real valuable stuff is in the Power Fist you should find, as well as the numerous bottles of Whiskey lying about. You can also grab Nuka-Cola from the machine and Pilot Lights from the two ovens.

Adjacent to the barracks, once outside, is another set of doors. A sign that says CLINIC is outside, so you know you're entering the slavers' medical area. The slavers' doctor will attack you when you enter (don't let down your guard if no one seems to be there... the doctor could be in the back room). Cap the doctor and search her body to find, amongst other valuables, Cutter's Medical Supply Key. Use it to open the desk and medical kit along the wall, where numerous valuable medical items can be found. Stimpaks, Med-X, Rad-X, RadAway, Jet, Buffout and Mentats will be amongst the booty here. Grab what you can, sleep off any injuries in the back room if you so desire, and then head back outside.

Before going into the slavers' boss' house and taking him out, you should now take the time to explore the open air kitchen and eating area the slavers utilized before you wiped them off the face of the planet. There's not much in the way of valuables, but you can still find some good stuff, including Junk Food, Squirrel Stew, Vodka, and Wine. All are good items to have on you, especially the latter, which are valuables you can sell once you get back to society (relatively speaking, of course).

Now, the only other house you have to explore is on the far left end of the compound, by some flaming barrels before you reach the final slave holding region. Within, you'll find the slavers' leader, and likely no one else. In fact, he'll likely be in his large bedroom to the back of the building, so he might not even hear you come in, giving you a distinct advantage in this battle. When he opens up on you, he won't be able to do much damage, so rush him with a powerful weapon and VATS his head into oblivion. After searching his body for goods, begin running around and grabbing all of the Whiskey lying around, as well as a Combat Helmet, Sexy Sleepwear, and at least five Nuka-Cola Quantums. Once you've combed the building for goods, head outside. (The slavers' leader will also have another Paradise Falls Box Key on him if you were unable to get one from the bodies of the men guarding the entrance to the compound).

The pens where enslaved children and adults alike are being kept is at the back of the compound (if you're lost, use VATS until you hone in on a Brahmin -- they are located near that beast of burden). There are two gates parallel to one another that need opening with the same key. On the left, you will find some of the children (behind them is a door leading to their chamber -- nothing but radioactive mushrooms to see there). Next to them, more children are being kept with adult slaves. Free them as well (speak to each of them and encourage them to run while the going's good). They also have a chamber with nothing worth exploring within.

Once the slaves are freed and the slavers are dead, you're free to leave Paradise Falls. Head towards the entrance to the compound, and once on the other side, begin seeking out one of the children you just freed (since you can't target children, VATS won't work in this capacity). To end this mission, you must first find one of the children so they can thank you before heading back to their settlement. Only then will the quest come to an end and your experience reward be released to you. Good work! You just did a really good deed in this every-man-for-himself post-apocalyptic hellhole known as the Capital Wasteland. For those who were doing this in order to finish the main quest Picking Up the Trail, you can now head back to Little Lamplight and get to business. For those who were doing this just for the fact that it was an optional side quest, you can move onto whatever else it is you want to do.)